Today's pictures are from the island of Paros, and you'll be pleased to see there isn't a picture taken from the boat or bird pictures anywhere.

Here's another picture of Panagia Ekatontapiliani in the port town of Parikia. We spent time visiting this church the first thing when we arrived in Paros. The fact that the church was actually a collection of different "attachments" resulted in an interesting building that did not look like every other church.

This was a chamber off to the side of the main church. I thought maybe the priest or someone who looked after the place lived in here, based on the bed in the room, but that may just be for effect - I have no idea. It's difficult to know the size of something in a picture without a reference point, so note the bed. The room isn't very big. It did come with its own icon.

After the church we still had a little time to walk around Parikia before Matta would come to pick us up. Like most port towns, this one had plenty
of shops and cafes lining the port area. I did a pretty bad job taking Kim's picture next to this Lego soldier, but I wanted to include him because of his pike and dagger. I thought Nicole might like it.

Matta picked us up at about 1:00 and we drove a short distance to the next village, Naoussa, which is her home for the month. She gave us a short tour and we walked to a restaurant for a wonderful lunch. We ate mezes: appetizer style (like tapas) which is common here, and is often done with seafood. We had some of the old

standards like squid an octopus, but also had something new to us. They made mackerel by sun-drying it for a day in salt. It was delicious and a lot less expensive than other fish we've had.


The image I always have of Greek islands is white buildings with blue trim and we certainly saw more of it on Paros than we had seen in the closer islands we've visited. You do see people who have done their homes in different colors but they are definitely in the minority.

This is where we sat to eat lunch. You can't get much closer to the source of your food than eating right next to the fishing boats.


Changing subject: last night I appeared on the panel about social networks at the university. The program started a little late. I thought it was just the way it was done, but I was told we were waiting because protesters had snarled traffic in the center of town and we were giving people more time to arrive. The university was taking extra precautions in light of the events of last
December: the building attendant had locked the front door to the building and was letting people in. In case the protesters wanted to come in he would be able to prevent them. It was never an issue. By the time I left the university there was no one outside.


After lunch we had another short walk through town stopping at another small place for coffee and pastry. We then drove just a short distance from the "outskirts" town to the hotel where Matta was staying and where she had arranged a room for us. It was a quiet place and we had a
waterfront view. The owner had put together an information booklet including local attractions, ferry boat schedules, etc. in both English and Greek. I laughed when I read that the housekeeper came each day to clean the rooms but that if people planned to sleep into the afternoon they should not expect her to wait around to clean their room.


I really think some of these places must just compete to look the most "typical." Maybe they're trying to get their places included in the next Greek Islands calendars.


Today's news item: It appears the new Acropolis Museum will finally open next month. As I have reported before, it has had numerous delays, been over-budget and highly controversial for the location, size and design.


In just a short while, Kim and I will be leaving the apartment to head to the port for a cruise. We've been talking about this for quite a while. We're spending a lot more than we're used to on a vacation but we didn't know if/when we'd get the

chance again. Plus, since it happens to coincide with our 28th wedding anniversary we can consider it a really big present. If you want to know about the cruise before we go, you can see the itinerary here. If you'd prefer, wait until I start blogging about it and you can find out about it.


We thought we were going to go with a different cruise line but when we went to the travel agency, he told us about a special rate that was available on another line so we chose it. Actually we preferred that one, but the cost was too high. The promotional rate made it cheaper than the cruise we had planned to book. I know booking flights through travel agencies doesn't save any
money but I've come to learn that agencies can generally offer better prices on cruises than you can find online - at least here in Greece.


We fly home in 10 days.